by Gregory Korte, USA TODAY

by Gregory Korte, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - Poor management, a lack of transparency and shoddy oversight are to blame for the troubled rollout of the federal health insurance exchange, the former commissioner of Social Security told a congressional panel Thursday.

"I have seen attempts to blame its so-called 'glitches' on silly explanations ranging from enthusiasm for the exchanges to the policies of Ronald Reagan," said Michael Astrue, who was the top lawyer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush before President George W. Bush appointed him to head the Social Security Administration.

"The simple truth is that HHS mismanaged the process. Failure was not inevitable. It was achieved," he said in testimony to a House subcommittee on health.

Astrue specifically singled out two Health and Human Services officials for criticism:

â?¢ Donald Berwick, the former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, now running as a Democrat for governor of Massachusetts. Berwick, he said, "failed to put in place the basic assignments, goals and systems of accountability necessary to manage a project of this scope."

A spokesman for Berwick said Astrue's comments were "politically motivated," and noted that Astrue, a Massachusetts resident, supports the campaign of GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker.

"The idea that these technical issues can be attributed to Don is nonsense. He has been removed from Medicare and Medicaid for 23 months," said Berwick press secretary Leigh Appleby.

â?¢ Daniel Levinson, the department's inspector general, who "undermined transparency" during the planning stages. Levinson's aides have been "smug and unhelpful," he said, and did nothing to alert the public about the "chaos" at the department.

Donald White, a Levinson spokesman, said the office had no comment on Astrue's testimony.

Astrue, now a pharmaceutical company executive, spoke to the subcommittee Thursday as part of a blitz of oversight hearings by the GOP-controlled House.

"Obamacare's problems are not limited to a website," said Chairman Joe Pitts, R-Pa. "The law was sold to the American people with false promises, and real people are being hurt."

But Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Republicans were simply trying to throw a "monkey wrench" into President Obama's signature achievement.

"This committee is not holding an oversight or implementation hearing," Pallone said. Instead, Republicans are trying to "sabotage Obamacare and force its failure."